Two days after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and approximately 40 senior members of the Islamic Republic’s regime, the conflict shows no signs of stopping, raising concerns of a broader conflict in the region and a possible oil crisis.

President Trump said the military operation could last as long as five weeks. As of this morning, three American military members were killed and at least five more were seriously injured at an Army base in Kuwait in one of hundreds of retaliatory attacks that Iran launched on the Gulf region, including major US military bases, as well as various sites in Israel. At least 11 people have been killed by Iranian missile strikes in Israel. And three people in the UAE have been killed, according to its Defense Ministry.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that more than 555 people have been killed in Iran, including up to 165 students at an all-girls school. A hospital in Tehran was also badly damaged.

Regional impacts

Iran’s counterstrikes have spread the conflict far beyond its borders, potentially bringing widespread humanitarian and economic consequences. As attacks rained down on Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi—areas generally spared from Mideast attacks—thousands of flights were canceled, and tourists were stranded at airports and hotels as airspace remained closed to commercial aircraft.

The oil industry is also feeling reverberations from the conflict:

• Oil prices jumped 10% as the markets opened for the week on Sunday evening.
• While Iran produces less than 5% of global oil output, its position next to the Strait of Hormuz means it can cut off the critical waterway. More than 20% of the global supply passes through it daily.

Shippers are wary. Ship-tracking data showed “a trickle” of vessels leaving the waterway yesterday, according to Bloomberg, and none entering.

Looking ahead: A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could lead to triple-digit oil prices, according to CNBC. To counterbalance the oil market pressures applied by the situation in Iran, OPEC+ said it would increase its collective production, but prices have surged anyway because those shipments would still rely on the Strait of Hormuz.—HVL

TX bar shooting that killed 2, wounded 14 being investigated as terrorism. Early Sunday, a man wearing “Property of Allah” and an Iranian flag design on his clothing opened fire at a bar in Austin, Texas, killing two and wounding 14. The venue, Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, sits a few miles from the campus at the University of Texas at Austin and was filled with hundreds of college-age patrons, according to the Associated Press. The gunman, who was killed by police, was identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, a naturalized US citizen. The shooting, which occurred a day after the US and Israel conducted airstrikes against Iran, is being investigated by the FBI as an act of terrorism.

Anthropic’s Claude topped App Store’s free app chart on Saturday. The move, which followed the company being blacklisted by the Pentagon on Friday, signaled that consumer interest in it remained strong despite—or because of—the dust-up. In the process of becoming No. 1 on the App Store free chart, Claude beat out OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which fell to second place. Reporting by the New York Times this weekend suggested that the Department of Defense’s deal with Anthropic failed to gel, and OpenAI nabbed the contract instead, because of personality differences between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and the DOD’s CTO, Emil Michael. Nevertheless, Anthropic said it would sue the government over its decision to label it a “supply chain risk.”

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel released his first shareholder letter. While it lacked longtime former CEO Warren Buffett’s witticisms, Abel’s letter received plaudits from industry watchers for showing humility and conveying clarity and confidence. Substantially, the letter signaled “business as usual” for Berkshire—the company still has lots of cash, isn’t interested in stock buybacks (yet), and still won’t offer a cash dividend. The data point that garnered the most surprise was that fourth quarter operating earnings fell 30% compared to the year prior, but Barron’s explained why that’s not as bad as it looks.—HVL

Live Nation may have finally found a venue it wants nothing to do with. The live entertainment company will be in a Manhattan court today for jury selection in a federal antitrust case that could result in a breakup.

Who is suing? The Department of Justice, 39 states, and the District of Columbia argue that Live Nation has maintained an illegal monopoly over live entertainment since it merged with ticket provider Ticketmaster in 2010, and that customers are paying the service and processing fees price. Specifically, the DOJ alleges:

• Live Nation, which has partnerships with hundreds of concert venues, pressures artists to use its promotion services in exchange for access to those venues.
• Live Nation also forces venues to use Ticketmaster for ticketing.

The company maintains that artists can perform wherever they want and sell tickets however they want.

What next? Live Nation has been trying to settle the case for months, per Bloomberg, and that could still happen. But for now, the case is going to trial, with testimony possible from singer Kid Rock, Roc Nation CEO and co-founder Desiree Perez, and SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger, which would actually make an amazing cast for the next season of The Traitors.—BC

How do you like them Apple products? CEO Tim Cook wants you to get ready for a “big week” at Apple. The company kicks off its first event of the year today, with several new products expected to be announced over the next few days. The exact lineup isn’t clear, but most experts anticipate Apple will debut a low-cost MacBook along with several other products that come in boxes you’ll refuse to throw away for some reason.

Talkin’ ’bout my generation: Some of tech’s most powerful companies will meet with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss…power. Specifically, they’ll sign an agreement pledging to generate their own power for all of the energy-hungry data centers popping up across the US. The “ratepayer protection pledge,” which Trump mentioned during last week’s State of the Union address, aims to ensure that “Americans’ electricity bills will not increase as demand grows,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers told news outlets last week. Execs from OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, xAI, and Oracle are all expected to attend. It’s unclear whether they’ll all do the electric slide afterward.

February jobs data will be released on Friday: The US economy added 130,000 jobs in January, which was more than expected, so analysts will be watching to see whether February’s report can sustain that momentum. Shutdown-delayed retail sales data from January will also be released on Friday. Target, Best Buy, Costco, and Kroger should add some further clarity on the state of the US consumer when they report earnings this week.

But wait, there’s more:

• The Jewish holiday of Purim begins tonight and continues until tomorrow (through Wednesday in Jerusalem).
• Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, which celebrates the start of spring, begins tomorrow.
• The World Baseball Classic starts on Wednesday night and runs through March 17.
• Pixar’s Hoppers hits theaters on Friday, as does The Bride!, a new take on Frankenstein starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley.
• Singer Harry Styles’s new album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, will be released on Friday.
• The Opening Ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will take place on Friday.

In California, there’s a decent chance that if you want to own a home, you’ll have to wait until someone has bought the farm. Nearly 1 in 5 property transfers in the state last year were through inheritance, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data firm Cotality.

That’s a state record since data collection started in 1995, and more than double the national rate of 8.8%. That’s in part because California tethers property taxes to a home’s most recent purchase price, rather than its current valuation. That can add up to big savings, considering a home that cost $100,000 in the 1970s can cost 10 times that nowadays.

Staying put is also a good way for older California homeowners to avoid paying hefty capital gains taxes in their retirement years.—BC